Calla Lilies

One of the flowers I'd been looking forward to growing in Costa Rica were calla lilies (Zantedeschia aethiopica). I knew very little about them, other than the fact that they grew in the tropics in areas with relative cool temperatures. Upon arriving we received a few bulbs from relatives and we stuck them in the ground in various places, none of which had very good soil. They didn't do well.

My wife said they liked damp soil, so a year ago we put some in a pot with good soil, and placed it in our new fish pond. The bulbs were just an inch or two above water level. They didn't do well either. Probably too much water.

I looked up calla lilies in two tropical gardening books that I'd recently acquired. GARDENING IN THE CARIBBEAN did not even mention calla lilies. I found this puzzling at first, but now realize that it logically would not include them because it only covers plants that grow in hot and/or warm climates. GARDENING IN THE TROPICS treated them only very briefly, and stated, ". . . best grown in plenty of light, but not in direct sunlight." When I told my wife this, she said, "Well, the book is wrong because in Costa Rica they are grown in direct sunlight."

I eventually looked up calla lilies on the internet and discovered information that verified my wife's take on sunlight. They do like direct sunlight.

Okay, so about this time we needed to create a series of catchment basins for the
water that ran out of our fish pond during heavy rains. Lots of water (but not too much), plenty of good soil, and direct sunlight -- maybe I could make a catchment basin that would be the perfect spot for calla lilies. So, I dug up an area just downhill from the exit pipe from the fish pond, worked in some sand and lots and lots of compost, and created two gutters exiting from the new basin so that excess water would run out. Next I took the pot of callas from the pond, divided the bulbs, and planted them in the new basin.

Within a couple of weeks we noticed that the plants were putting out dark green stems
and leaves that were much thicker and healthier than they were when they were in the pond. Within a six weeks we had our first blooms, and they have continued to thrive, multiply, and put out masses of blooms for four months now.

In October we got 33 inches of rain, and it seemed to rain almost the entire month, nonstop. At times the calla bulbs were under two to three inches of water for up to five or six hours at a time. But the excess water ran off and the rest soaked in. The callas just love their new environment. I have continued to add compost (and compost tea when they are dry). They, and we, couldn't be happier.

I've noticed that our callas only grow to be about 15 inches tall. The cut calla lilies that I see in the market are about two feet tall. They are grown at higher elevations than our lot. So, I assume that it is the cooler weather that they thrive on.

Happy gardening!